22 December 2004
New Zealand Becoming A Toothless Society
New Zealand First spokesperson for health Barbara Stewart is criticising the Government for not acting sooner to rescue
the appalling state of our school dental service.
It is outrageous that the number of children having dental surgery under general anaesthetic because their teeth are so
decayed has quadrupled in the last ten years, with reports of children as young as four having up to eight teeth
removed, said Mrs Stewart.
The Minister of Health has known about this for some time and only now has she decided to ask each DHB to produce a
report on the dental service in the region.
This is another case where the Minister is fobbing off her responsibility to already pressured DHBs.
We are fast becoming a toothless nation due to the lack of leadership by this Mrs King.
ENDS